Tennessee football: Vols, SEC and top 25 predictions for Week 1 of 2019
Portland State Vikings at Arkansas Razorbacks
TV: SEC Network
Saturday, Aug. 31 at 4 p.m.; Razorback Stadium; Fayetteville, Ark.
Speaking of overrated coaches, Chad Morris and the Arkansas Razorbacks kept Tennessee football from being at the bottom of the SEC last year, even with former Vols defensive coordinator John Chavis running their defense. This year, Morris hopes to show that his spread offense has taken it to another level and is ready to succeed.
Their opening game, however, won’t do much to show that. After all, they are playing an FCS school in the Portland State Vikings who went 4-7 at their level last year. Hey, they did drop 55 on their FCS opponent last year, the Eastern Illinois Panthers. That was before their season turned into a disaster.
Morris, people forget, is hailed for his genius years with the Clemson Tigers. But Dabo Swinney’s program got better after he left, and he only had one winning season with the SMU Mustangs. So he still has a lot to prove. This game won’t prove any of it, but he had better win if he doesn’t want another disastrous season.
Prediction
Wow, we have Arkansas beating another FCS team. Do they want a standing ovation? Sorry, but they were so bad last year with their 2-10 record that this means nothing. With no line and no over/under, I guess if you want to bet you can take the Hogs in an easy win. We won’t give them any real praise though until we see what they do a few weeks into the season.